Review: Surrender the Dark (The Dark #1) by Tibby Armstrong

As a provocative series of paranormal temptation begins, a vampire king seduces the supernaturally gifted man hunting him. But when the stakes are literally life or death, their struggle for control is no game.

Benjamin Fuller is a hunter, born and bred. Blinded as a child by the vampire who slaughtered his family, he’s blessed with a second sight that allows him to catch and kill his quarry. What his gift can’t help him see coming is his fierce, almost carnal attraction to the mystery man who claims to be a fellow hunter and whose touch triggers both lust and revulsion. When he gains the upper hand, Benjamin vows to bring his enemy to his knees.

After many years spent in exile, the only one who can help restore Tzadkiel Dragoumanos to his rightful place as War King is a blind hunter with golden curls, a lithe dancer’s physique, and distinctive facial scars—scars Tzadkiel gave him two decades ago. The mere scent of Benjamin Fuller provokes an unwelcome rush of insatiable desire. Yet to win an all-out supernatural war, Tzadkiel must resist the ravenous hunger to possess his prey—for now.

I received this book for free from the Publisher or Author in exchange for an honest review, or I purchased it with my own funds. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I’m usually not one of those readers who goes for enemies to lovers stories. I can’t just seem to buy into the whole sworn to kill each other and now they are pledging undying love. Probably because there is a real good reason why they are enemies and I have yet to find a story that gives a real good reason why they are now on the same side. That is until I read Surrender the Dark.

Hunter born. Hunter bred. That was drilled into Benjamin from day one by his family. At age eight, he loses his sight as well as his family to a vampire. A vampire his family was torturing and also planning to kill. After spending nearly two decades killing vampires, he comes across another hunter, Tzadkiel. Of course, Tzadkiel isn’t really a hunter. He’s the vampire, the War King, Benjamin’s family was trying to kill. He’s spent all these years hiding trying to recover from what was done to him. The truth comes out, and both are determined to be the victor even though they both feel an attraction. Tzadkiel has the upper hand until an unexpected power shows their hand and the only way to save everyone from a supernatural war is a temporary alliance.

Whew! This is one busy story but in a good way. There’s quite a bit of history to these characters to take in. Thankfully, it’s not all crammed down our reading throats at once. Instead, layers are revealed bit by bit. And oh man do I love those layers! They have such a way of catching you off guard so whatever opinion you have now, it will probably be different a chapter down the road.

Tzadkiel and Benjamin now these two are quite the combo. Enemies forced to work together, with a nice side of attraction and something else. Fighting their attractions while fighting together made for quite a ride. Even with the romance side of their story, it was the good versus evil battle that drew me in. The battles, the romance and the sidekicks that is. Nyx and Akito. Really, if you don’t like them then there is something wrong with you. Akito, the only human in the bunch. His story takes a wicked curveball that I hope to see more of in future titles. Nyx is just one giant ball of secrets yet to be revealed. A witch with huge secrets that just when I thought I had her figured out, nope. She is one that kept me on my toes the whole time. She is awesome!

I know not everybody will like the worldbuilding. There will be others saying this story lacks romance. I for one found it perfectly balanced. You need both to appreciate Tzadkiel and Benjamin and the battles they face with their hearts and to survive the war. It’s not a fluffy story and that was something I was hoping it wouldn’t be. I wanted something dark and intense. Looks like I got my wish. Hope you enjoy Surrender the Dark as much as I did.